


Something More Important

by redhairedqueen



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: A plot does emerge eventually, Aged up Sansa, Canon - Book, Canon Divergence - The Battle of the Blackwater, F/M, Fluff and Angst, I really don’t know how to tag this, No Show Elements, Romance, Vignette
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-14
Updated: 2018-05-19
Packaged: 2019-04-22 23:54:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 1,870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14319846
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/redhairedqueen/pseuds/redhairedqueen
Summary: Some things are more important.He does not want to be alone anymore.A series of vignettes starting during their time together in King’s Landing. 20% plot, 80% feels.From the comments (because you all are wonderful and this is a ~book jacket~ now):"You make me wanna cry in less than 500 words when others fail to do so in 500,000. Sheer talent."— wandering_gypsy_feet"This is just wow! So full of emotion and imagery. You really transported me to his torment. Kudos again!"— Fanfic_Addicted"Wow, that was really wonderful and poignant! It's very realistic and so well written."— blueSands”This is so beautiful, it takes my breath away.”— Saoirse97





	1. Sometimes, The Shadows Move

Sometimes, when she is in the godswood, the shadows move.

 It isn’t the drunk fool, the one she saved, coming to bring her more dark gems—no, he moves clumsily, fumbling, never quiet or delicate like the shadows. No, the shadows of the godswood are long and steady, looming.

 It is not cast by her own figure, but the shadow always trails behind her; never in sync but never far. Tall and strong, her shadow is a shield. She is never afraid of the darkness it brings.

She comes to the godswood to be alone, no one bothers her here save her shadow. Here, she can think, breath, remember. Remember her home, her family. Remember what it was like before.

It is her northern solace in a southern hell. The boy king and his wicked mother can’t touch her here, for with the trees and her shadow she knows she is safe.

She comes to the godswood to be alone, with her shadow.


	2. Bird Watching

He wonders when he started smiling.

 

 

 

 


	3. Two Flames

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is for [wandering_gypsy_feet](https://archiveofourown.org/users/wandering_gypsy_feet/pseuds/wandering_gypsy_feet). Thanks for all of your support, babe.

Blood and smoke and death fill his nostrils and it is overwhelming. The night sky should not be emerald, jade, but it is and it swallows the city whole. Everything is aflame, screaming, and he is a boy again. Men die. Men cry. The coward burns them all. His mouth tastes like metal and his head is light but he fought. He drops his helm on the ground; it is missing an ear for he fought. He is the only one screaming now and these flames are orange, closing in on him. Swords clash loudly as he moves the toy but now the toy is gone. He sticks his sword in the sandy ground and he cannot fight anymore. The knight laughs and he screams, screams, screams. The flames swallow the boy and the boy is dead. It is hard to fight when you are alone, scared, dead. He is gone. No amount of wine can drown out the laughter, the screams. He knows this because he tries—it never works. The father says nothing and he is alone. But he does not want to be a boy alone. _Go back,_ the coward demands, _back into the fire and be a man._ But he is not a man, he is a little boy alone and he is screaming so he says _no_ and he means it. _The king, city need you,_ the coward shouts. _Bugger that,_ he says. The knight is laughing again and he is screaming so he thinks of the only fire that doesn’t hurt him; the flame and the song that draw him in like a moth. _Some things are more important,_ he says. He doesn’t want to be alone anymore.


	4. Wanting Her Is Becoming A Problem.

Wanting her is becoming a problem. He tells himself that he only wants to keep her safe, protect her from the boy king and his knights. But then she does something stupid like smile at him and he knows that he is lying. He knows that it is more than that and he is lost. It makes him scared and that makes him angry. _She is promised to another_ , he reminds himself. _Remember how she looked wearing your cloak? She put it on herself,_ his self responds. _But that does not make her yours,_ he tells himself. 

So he is her shadow instead and he will protect her from the boy king and his knights. And he will drink and visit redheaded whores. And he will try to convince himself that that is enough. 

It is not. 

Sometimes she walks in the gardens, and the sun catches her hair, and it is gold. She smiles and she is brave and she does not let the boy king break her. She looks like a queen when she says that she loves the boy king, but he knows that that is a lie; a lie just as big as the ones he tells himself. 

She smiles and he is lost. She nibbles at her lemoncakes and he wants to wipe away the crumbs. She sings songs of knights and fair maids, and he wants to believe they are true. (Once, he did believe they were true, but that belief was burned away.)  _Birds do not sing for dogs_ , he reminds himself bitterly. But this one does.


	5. Moonlight

When the sun is gone and the moon has taken its place in the sky, she walks in the godswood.  She breathes in the night and the crisp air feels lovely on her skin. She wants to count all of the stars. 

She knows she shouldn’t be out of bed, should be in her chambers, but the night is beautiful and peaceful and calm—she simply doesn’t care. They have taken so much from her, but they cannot take the stars. Her shadow is with her and she knows that she will be safe.

Strong arms pin her against the wall. The night air is cold and his breath is hot. _Yes,_ she thinks. _Yes._


	6. Punishment

The air in the throne room is thick with tension. The boy king is upset because of something the wolf king did, and that always means he will take it out on her. The sun pours through the window behind him, nearly creating a halo. The boy king smiles a wicked smile with his thin, wormy lips, but at least he does not have a crossbow today. 

Some of them sneer at her—they enjoy her pain. But she is a wolf so she holds her head high and hopes that the Others take them. She knows that they won’t, but the thought brings her a terrible kind of satisfaction. 

_Take her to her chambers, dog,_ the boy king says. _No, take her to your chambers. Show her how we punish traitors_. She fights back the urge to smile and pretends to cry when he gently scoops her up in his arms, carries her out of the throne room. His arms are strong and she knows that he will protect her.

In the quiet of the corridor, he smiles. His lips are soft against hers, except for the burnt part (but she’s never minded that). In his arms, she imagines it is a different day and that he is carrying her away for a different reason. Some day he will, perhaps; she hopes, but she dare not tell anyone not even him. 

Up the stairs he takes her, up into the white brothers’ tower. His feet are loud and heavy on the stone. They climb higher and higher, and she sighs. Her heart jumps with each step, wondering if today might be the day. He sets her down on his bed and sits beside her, showering her with kisses. He tells her that today is not the day for that is what the boy king wants. No, that day will be another day. She pushes down her disappointment and falls asleep in his arms. 

He strokes her hair. She is happy and she is safe.


	7. A Question

_Run away with me._

 

 

 

 

  

 


	8. An Answer

_Yes._

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

xxx

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So it turns out there's a character minimum for chapters lol


	9. Dreaming

She is in his arms and it hurts to have her so close and yet so far. He can’t sleep. Her breathing is slow and steady, and she sleeps, but watching her heaving chest doesn’t help him at all.

He is afraid, he realizes, that if he sleeps, she will be gone when he wakes. He is afraid that this is all a dream and that she isn’t really here and that if he falls asleep, the dream will end. He does not want her to be gone. He holds her tighter and presses his lips against the crown of her head. He will keep her close and he will keep her safe.

She smiles and she is dreaming, he can tell. He wonders what she dreams of. He wonders if he can give her all of her dreams; he wonders if he will ever be worthy. _No_ , he thinks, _but I will try_. Her hair is silk in his fingers and she smells like lavender and sunshine and hope. _Yes_ , he thinks, _I will try_.


	10. Home

_We are going_ , he says. _Now_ , he says. She asks where they are going and he says away, for that is all he knows. Away from the city.

They will go and they will be safe.

He worries about her fair skin, and says they will not go south—she would burn—but he knows that it doesn’t matter where they go because they will be together.

_Can we go north?_ she asks, _home?_

He has never had a home before, but he thinks that maybe he could have a home with her. _Yes_.


	11. Building Fires

She is becoming faster at building fires. Tinder, kindling; flint, wood. She does not tell him that she builds the fires for him. _I_ _just want to be useful_ , she tells him. _I’ll start the fire while you skin the rabbits_. He grunts in approval of her idea; it is a wordless thanks.

She sleeps closer to the fire. She tells him that the night is cold but his embrace is enough to keep her warm, warmer than all the fires and furs in the world. She sleeps closer to the fire, for him.

Slow and steady breathing, he is asleep.

_I_ _will keep you safe_ , she whispers.


	12. Everything

They ride horses in the heavy rain, the thick fog; it envelopes them. Wet clothes cling to their skin and he worries that she will catch cold. He worries that she would be happier in a warm castle with a better man, a handsome man who can give her everything. He wants to give her everything for she is the sun and the moon and the stars. She is the air he breathes, the water he drinks, the food he eats. She is shelter in a storm and he wonders if he could survive without her.

_I_ _do not want a castle_ , she says. _I_ _want to be here, with you_. She reminds him that she chose this. She reminds him that she chose him. He does not understand so he asks _why?_ and her only answer is a kiss. Her kisses are everything, and he thinks _no, I could not survive without her_.


	13. Tonight

The rain is cold and the roads are muddy but there is an inn ahead, they see. She smiles at him. It is tonight, he knows it in his bones.

 

 

 


	14. Flesh

The mattress is only straw but it is clean and welcoming and, in her bones, she knows that tonight is the night. His body envelopes her, strong and warm. He smiles into their kiss. _Yes, tonight._

The pain is over quickly and she does not mind the blood, for she feels whole. The first is fast, awkward; the second is blissfully slow. The world falls away and they are alone; the only sounds the rain, their breath, flesh against flesh.

 

 


	15. Another Question

This moon she does not bleed. Her heart, lungs do not work properly anymore but he puts his hand on hers and it is alright.

In the godswood, it is snowing. They are north at last. She breathes deeply, filling her lungs with the cold, winter air.

The heart tree smiles and they are one.

**Author's Note:**

> I’ll be updating on Saturdays, two or three at a time since they’re short.
> 
> Comments makes me oh so very happy.


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